Espresso Love (SanDhir)

Chapter 14 - Robusta

I smiled, "So you still remember?" I said wiping my hands off with the rag and giving her a hug. "Thanks for coming by!"

"Of course I remember Randhir. It's not everyday that we walked in on you cooking. That too for someone," she smiled. "Anyway, let's talk about the real reason I'm here."

"You sure you aren't hungry? It doesn't seem like you ate anything."

"Oh no I'm fine!"

"Well let me know when you do want to eat." I turned myself towards her, both of us leaning against opposite counters. "You remember when I told you about Sanyukta Mittal?" to which she nodded.

I took a deep sigh; "It was her."

"You mean she's married?" she gasped. "Randhir are you sure? I don't know maybe there's something..."

"I met her today Vidu. And she didn't deny her marriage. She said she could explain..."

My voice silenced off by the end, and even she looked as if she were deep in thought. Several moments went by in silence, after which I jumped in. "How about we eat first and then we can talk about this?"

She nodded, taking the plates out to the dining table. We sat across each other, eating in some more silence.

I fiddled with the pasta in my plate, "This is good by the way!" she said, bringing a little smile on my face. "So what exactly happened today?"

—

—

I reached outside the restaurant and paid the fare. Taking a glance at the surroundings, my eyes landed on the flashing lights which spelled out Nirvana. I had spent so much time here that I knew every detail of the restaurant even after all these years.

It would be a lie if I said that I wasn't terrified to see Parth. I felt guilty, not to mention ashamed, for leaving him like I did. He deserved an explanation, I know he did; but I didn't give one. Not to him, not to Randhir. It was cowardly on my part, but I knew that if I had one shot at it all again, I would still have done the same thing.

Breathing in, I let these thoughts wander loosely in my mind while I thought of how excited I felt as well. Excited to see him, to get to speak to him, maybe even tell him everything that I had been through and was dealing with right now.

As I reached out to open the door, someone came from the side and opened it for me. "For you mademoiselle," he said.

I could recognize that voice anywhere, anytime. "Parth!" I exclaimed, turning around to face him. I hugged him hard, "I'm so glad to see you!"

All my emotions came out in a rush as I began sobbing while I hugged him. He patted my hair, "Sshh, it's okay. I'm here now!" he attempted to pacify me. "Let's go inside?"

He pulled out of the hug and wiped the tears from my face. "After you," he smiled.

—

—

"I set up the interview with her yesterday for the internship with Vishal."

"But you had already decided to hire her before the interview, hadn't you?" she grinned as she asked that.

"Why do you bother asking questions to which you already know the answers?"

"So what did you find out? Did you guys address the elephant in the room?"

"Obviously not Vidushi! Are you crazy?" I yelled out. "I could barely hold myself together in front of her, let alone speak up."

I looked at her, trying to tell her what happened without having to say anything.